Joburg’s future looks bright

Whichever way I look at the Local Municipal Elections, I am thrilled with the results.

While a coalition government is yet to be formed and there is no indication of which way it will swing, it is clear that Johannesburg has sent a message to the leaders. It is not a badly run municipality – I actually think we can all be proud of the ANC and what Mayor Parks Tau has achieved – but we are far from perfect and there is always room for improvement.

Listening to the ANC leadership last week, what struck me was the fact that everyone seems to want to point fingers. National government said it was the municipal division that failed to get voters out in their numbers, while the Gauteng leadership seems to believe they run a tight ship and people were voting as a result of what has happened within the top ANC leadership.

I believe it is a bit of both.

I am not happy with the way our president has treated his people. We are not fools, and when looking back at Nkandla, Schabir Shaik, e-tolls or the way the ANC handled the Gupta presence in South Africa, it is clear that our leadership thinks we are a bunch of idiots.

On a municipal level, while things started looking up, one cannot deny that Joburg is not without its problems. For the Gauteng leadership to simply say voters were unhappy about the national leaders seems naive. If the billing crisis in Johannesburg or the blatant corruption within police stations and municipal offices is not enough to convince someone of Joburg’s problems, maybe the appalling lack of service delivery in townships, the housing backlog and illegal electricity connections will act as a reminder of how much change is needed.

I don’t necessarily believe that change needs to be a new political party – all parties have their weaknesses – but we do need a change in attitude.

Hopefully, whichever party gets the privilege of running Joburg, they will take our beautiful city to the next level and truly make Johannesburg a world-class African city. And I believe our current Mayor Parks Tau of the ANC or DA mayoral candidate Herman Mashaba are up for the challenge.

Let’s hope the parties that stand behind whoever gets elected as mayor can give them the support they need to get the job done.